INFOGRAPHIC: How to Recycle Old Mobile Phones

Posted on 15th March 2018

Have you got a drawer at home or in your office that is accumulating old mobile phones? Here’s how you can recycle old mobile phones.

With most businesses and customers replacing their mobile phones every year or two, we end up locking away valuable assets that gather dust in storage, or, even worse, get rid of these devices irresponsibly.

Electrical goods are the fastest growing waste stream in the UK

15-20% – The amount of all e-waste currently being recycled.

8% – The amount by which global e-waste is expected to grow.

3.3 tonnes– The amount of waste electronics generated in one UK citizen’s lifetime.

15 million mobile phones are upgraded in the UK each year. Laid from end-to-end they would reach from John O’Groats to Lands End.

How long do we keep our mobile phones?

In the UK, people keep a mobile phone for an average of 22.4 months.

What’s in that dust-gathering device?

Every 1 million mobile phones contain:

66 lbs gold

661 lbs silver

20 lbs of palladium

10 tonnes copper

Americans throw away approximately $60 million worth of silver and gold per year!

Why recycle old mobile phones?

There are many rare elements in phones, and these resources do get stretched. We are getting to a point where it’s cheaper to recycle these elements from old phones than to mine more of them.

When it’s released into the environment, the excessive amount of lead in e-waste could cause severe damage to the human body.

Nearly 25% of waste electrical equipment that’s taken to household waste recycling centres could be reused. This is worth around £200m gross a year.

The simple way to recycle old mobile phones – for cash!

Did you know? You can sell and recycle old mobile phones quickly and easily for a set price.